The body of her lover, Gary Greenfield, was badly decomposed when it was discovered July 29, 2015, in an overgrown, swampy area littered with garbage behind a mobile home he was renting from Collins. The body was found wrapped in a tarp beneath a panel of privacy fencing and a knife was found near his leg. Reports show that Greenfield's cause of death was never determined.

Earlier in the day Monday, jurors spent 1½ hours deliberating before convicting Collins after a trial that lasted nearly two weeks.

Collins' lawyer, Kelly McCabe, had argued there was reasonable that doubt Collins was the killer.

"Everything was speculation," McCabe said after the sentencing. "How, when he died and how long his body had been out there."

But Assistant State Attorney Hope Pattey said after the sentencing that all the evidence pointed toward Collins as the killer.

"You look at the totality of the evidence and there was absolutely no other answer other than the fact that she committed this crime," Pattey said.

In closing arguments, Pattey made a chart that listed 137 circumstances that pointed to her guilt.

One was Greenfield's cellphone.

In May 2015, he either called or texted Collins 388 times, and in June through the 15th, they communicated 244 times. But in the second half of the month, it dropped to 29. His friend in Texas received an email saying he was taking a trip out West and would be out of touch for a while. On June 25, Greenfield’s daughter received a text message from her father’s phone saying he was taking a cruise.

On June 17, less than two days since anyone had talked with Greenfield and six weeks before his body was found, Collins sent her son a text offering to rent the mobile home where Greenfield had been staying.

Before Harb sentenced Collins, two of Greenfield's relatives spoke to the court about the pain Collins had caused.

Sister Elaine Cemonuk said her older brother always took care of her.

Their mother couldn't take the pain of losing her son, she said. She died 15 months after Greenfield.

"Vicky, you took away the joy of her last Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Christmas and Easter," Cemonuk said. "She died with a broken heart."

Collins and Greenfield had known each other since they both lived in New York. After Collins moved to Florida, Greenfield, a truck driver, kept the affair going during visits here. During that time, they married other people and had children. Greenfield had since divorced and moved to Florida two years ago as he prepared to retire.

Cemonuk said she'll have trouble ever forgiving Collins.

"You are the most evil, cold, despicable person I have ever met," Cemonuk said.

John Chambliss can be reached at john.chambliss@theledger.com or 863-802-7588.